Today is the men’s Wimbledon final, the final of the Copa America, the European Soccer championship, the Scottish Open, and the day Lance and I play golf here in Quito. First we go on a walking tour of old Quito, the rest of the group has lunch, but we golfers taxi to the course.

We had bad news this morning at breakfast. Karen told us that her husband, Ken, went to the hospital last night with atrial fibrillation. He has had A-fib before. Karen called our guide, Ana, last night. Ana came right over and insisted that both she and Karen ride with Ken to the hospital in the ambulance. He remains in intensive care but is stabilizing. Ken and Karen will be heading home to Colorado as soon as he can. Someone from OAT will stay with Ken and Karen as they eventually make their journey to the airport. They will not have to be alone; OAT does a very good job of caring for its travelers. By the way Ken and Karen have completed 18 OAT trips plus many other trips around the world.

At breakfast, Karen told Pat and I that they are both in very good shape and that they laughed at people who said the 50’s would be a tough decade, then the 60’s, etc. She shook her head as she told us that the 80’s really hit them.

Writing now on the 15th for Bastille day as well as the 15th

Yesterday, Bastille Day, we took a tour of a downtown market. There was much to see. The market consists of many individual stalls operated by different sellers, typical of other countries around the world.

They have dozens of varieties of bananas. They are one of the leading exporters of bananas in the world. You may recall that the new president of Ecuador, Daniel Naboa, is the son of a billionaire who made his fortune largely from exporting bananas.

Our tour leader, Ana, guided us with aplomb through the marketplace. She had us sample a dozen different fruits. Photos were taken.

The cafeteria was a lively place offering lots of local delights and sporting roving musicians and happy customers. Ecuador also has a couple of dozen different varieties of potatoes.

As well as a variety of pork dishes.

The place didn’t have the most charming decor.

But the musicians really helped.

We visited the Basilica of the National Vow church high on a hill in central Quito. The vow was to pledge the country to the sacred heart of Jesus. It is modeled after Notre Dame in Paris complete with gargoyles with a twist. The gargoyles depict local creatures including turtles, iguanas and fish. At the time of construction, a fear arose that when the cathedral was finished, the world would end. Wisely, they never completely finished the project even though the work spanned 85 years.

There was much more to see in central Quito including the Metropolitan Cathedral of Quito. It is a gilded (lots of gild) and is very awe inspiring just as the Spanish builders intended. This is a small portion of the cathedral. That’s Ana lecturing in the corner.

But enough frivolity; it is time for golf. Lance and I were getting anxious to get going as the lecturing and touring was going on too long. Finally, J told Ana that the golfers had to go; we were getting extremely restless and might do something inappropriate in the cathedral. She had called a driver to take us to Los Cerros (the hills) Golf Club. We asked the cost and were surprised by Fernando’s $50 response. It turns out that the club was conveniently located 45 minutes away! More anxiety ensued.

To get into the private club we had to say we were friends of Javier and Lorena. This was acceptable to the guard at the gate. Up at the club we were met by Paul (pronounced like Raul with a P). He took our money and sold Lance 7 golf balls even though he asked for 8. Well, they were 7 balls for ten dollars, after all. I brought 3 with me from home. He got us a cart and set us on our way.

I teed off first and sent my ball into the deep woods; Lance did the same. By the time we were halfway through the second hole, we were down 4 balls. Ball anxiety ensued. From then on, we considered a good shot to be one we could find. In this photo you can see just how menacing the woods on the right appear. We fearlessly went ahead.

This is a par three down the hill and over the water. I have never played a course that had so little markings or guidance of any kind. The little dirt trail on the right, as opposed to the little dirt trail on the left, was actually the cart path. There were many times we struggled to find our way and once we got completely lost.

There were several deep chasms (there are plenty all around this area) with impressive bridges built to span them.

You can see the clearly identifiable (this one is pretty obvious at this point) cart path.

This sums it up. Lance with a perpetual look of confusion and me with a troubled, concerned expression.

July 15, still in Quito…

Today there was an optional tour to a hot springs and spa. J opted to go. The 8 AM departure time and the 90 minute bus ride discouraged the rest of us. Ana arranged for Fernando to take us (Lance, Pat and I) to the aerial tram at the edge of town. The tram ride takes us up to 13,000 feet. We were encouraged by the concern of the operators who posted helpful information for us travelers.

The ride took us to the top of Pinchincha volcano. The 15 minute ride is very steep and must equal the Palm Springs, California tram for steepness. From the top the city unfolds before you. Visible is Cayambe volcano (15,000 feet) as well as the massive Cotapaxi which rises more than 19,00 feet. We got there just as the tram opened at 10 AM so there wasn’t much of a crowd. We were advised to go early as the skies are likely to be less cloudy and the winds more moderate.

Cayambe and part of the city.

Cotapaxi is often cloud shrouded.

Last notes on Quito and the Equator

Quito is the highest capital city in the world. Tides at the equator are virtually nil. Daylight and nighttime are virtually equal year round.

Tomorrow we leave early (of course) and fly to the Galapagos. We stay for 7 days on a small boat (15 passengers). Last night I tried on my wet suit for snorkeling in the 60 degree water. Lance and J brought their own equipment. Pat won’t touch that water with a 10-foot pole.